The present invention relates generally to electrical junction boxes having a plurality of electrical terminals covered with protective caps and, more specifically, to water impermeable caps which encapsulate and protect the electric terminals located in telephone or other communication line junction boxes.
Junction boxes, typically located on telephone poles, have been extensively utilized in the prior art for re-routing telephone lines. Typically, a junction box has an incoming cable, which includes a plurality of individual telephone lines therein. The plural lines are routed to a pluarility of terminals located within the junction box. These terminals provide an access point for monitoring and routing individual phone wires to other phone connections external to the junction box.
The prior art junction boxes typically comprise a water resistant plastic or metal housing having a hinged front panel to provide access to a telephone wiring technician for monitoring and electrically configuring the phone wires extending individually from the terminals. The phone wires extending from the terminals to various external phone connections are routed through circular apertures in the junction box housing, which apertures typically include a water resistant webbing penetrable by the phone wires. The front panel and the webbing in the circular apertures provide moderate water resistance so as to prevent corrosion of the phone wires and terminals within the junction box.
As a further means to prevent corrosion of the terminals and the wires internal to the junction box, insulating caps have been used to cover the terminals. These prior art caps have included a tubular body which extends over the terminal to seat against the backplate or substrate of older junction boxes or surrounds the annular boss or more recent junction boxes from which extends the terminal stud and phone wire connection. As such, the prior art insulated terminal caps have been used in an attempt to prevent moisture from attacking the terminal preventing corrosion of the terminal.
Although the prior art caps have proven easily inserted onto a terminal threaded stud and as such have been an improvement over cumbersome electrical tape as a means to prevent corrosion, the caps have proven to be inherently leaky. In this regard, moisture penetrating through the moisture resistant junction box has often penetrated into the tubular body of the cap thereby attacking and corroding the terminal and phone wire.
In the prior art, it has additionally been common procedure to designate particular phone wires by color coded terminal caps indicating either that the line is secured or non-secured. Typically, a red color cap has designated a secure line. A secure line may be, for example, a computer line having data transmissions susceptible to electrical noise induced upon the line, for example, alarm phone lines which are used to signal an emergency condition which emergency condition might be inadvertently triggered by noise upon the line, and for example, emergency hospital lines which are used to communicate between emergency facilities. Communications over computer, hospital and alarm phone lines should not be interrupted by phone technicians monitoring the phone lines. To prevent interruption caused by possible monitoring by the technicians, the caps have been color coded "red" indicating a secure line so as to inform the technician that such line should not be monitored so as to prevent interruption of secured communications.
A significant problem associated with moisture leakage in the prior art terminal caps has been the poor seal resulting between the terminal caps and the backplate and/or boss of the terminal. The prior art caps have typically included an extremely thin tubular body providing insufficient rigidity, i.e. structural integrity to maintain a proper seal between the thin annular end of the tubular terminal cap and the backplate of the junction box. Additionally, due to the construction of the prior art terminal caps, the phone wire which extends from the terminal threaded stud heretofore has been required to be bent ninety degrees from the terminal threaded stud to extend axially toward the backplate or boss and subsequent, has then been bent another ninety degrees to extend radially away from the terminal threaded stud. Hence, the wire has been disposed between the backplate or boss and the annular end of the tubular body of the terminal cap. The wire so disposed has necessarily created spaces between the backplate and the end of the cap thereby providing undesirable access of moisture to the terminal threaded stud. Additionally, the bending of the phone wires has accelerated corrosion by virtue of fatigue at the bending points on the wire. In an attempt to alleviate this problem, it has been customary practice for technicians to manually slice or cut the tubular body of the terminal cap to allow the wire to extend directly radially outward from the terminal stud. However, this practice has resulted in further leakage problems since the thin tubular body of the cap would be further weakened and be incapable of supporting an encapsulate gel or forming a water tight seal.
Another problem associated with the prior art terminal caps has been the excessive inventory control required for multiple colored caps depending upon the differing types of lines, e.g., secured or unsecured lines. A different colored cap had to be inventoried for each type of line status. Inventory control and associated procurement activity for multiple colored caps necessarily has increased the expense of the caps.
Another problem associated with the prior terminal caps has been the necessity to change the cap in the event of a changed status of a particular line. When a line status is changed, e.g. from a secured line to a non-secured line, the cap necessarily had to be replaced, thereby subjecting the terminal to the environmental conditions and thereby accelerating possible corrosion of the temrinal.
Yet another problem associated with the prior terminal caps has been the use of non-reusuable moisture resistant hard cured substances disposed in the caps which, have tended to crumble or otherwise become non-reusable and defective. In the event that a line needed to be monitored necessitating the removal of the cap, the cap has thereby proven defective by virtue of the fracturing and crumbling of the water resistant substance inside the cap resulting in the discard and waste of the cap.
As such, the prior art terminal caps have possessed inherent problems and disadvantages, which problems or disadvantages are specifically reduced or solved using the present invention.